Food shield systems, sometimes referred to as food guards or “sneeze guards,” are required by federal law for any attendant-served or self-service food establishment. Food shield systems reside in what is termed the “splash zone” and must be designed and constructed according to standards developed by the National Sanitation Foundation (“NSF”). At a high level of NSF standards, a food shield installation is required to have a front glass panel, often referred to as a main viewing panel, that provides a barrier between the consumer and food that may be either directly accessed by the consumer, i.e., self service, or served to the consumer by an attendant, i.e., attendant-served, such as in a cafeteria. Therefore, in general, there are two types of food shield installations, namely, a self-service type of food shield designed to allow consumers to serve themselves (buffet) and an attendant-served type of food shield designed to allow an attendant to serve consumers (cafeteria). With food shield installations of the self-service type, an opening exists between the lower edge of the main viewing panel and the countertop to allow consumers to access food through the opening. With food shield installations of the attendant-serve type, the main viewing panel extends over most or all of the vertical distance between the top panel of the food shield and the countertop to eliminate the aforementioned opening. In other words, in an attendant-served food shield installation, the main viewing panel separates the consumers from the food and an attendant who is located on the opposite side of the food shield system from the consumer.
As even a casual observer of food shield installations will notice, self-service food shield, attendant-served food shield, and combination food shield installations all vary greatly in configuration according to their specific application. Some food shield installations may be designed to make a “turn” along a food area with one or more corners, for instance. Other food shield installations may be installed as one straight “run,” but with multiple sections, while still others may be suspended over a food area, and so forth. To further expand the seemingly endless configurations for food shield installations, many applications require on-site modification of a food shield system at the time of or after its installation. The many different configurations that may be required in the marketplace of food shield systems, along with the reality that any given specific application of a food shield system may necessitate on-site modification at the time of or after installation, makes it difficult for a designer of a food shield system to ensure that each and every installation is not only efficiently constructed, but also results in an installed system that meets the NSF requirements.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a modular food shield system that includes versatile components that may be used in various combinations to efficiently construct, adjust, and modify a food shield installation on-site. Moreover, there is a need in the art for a modular food shield system for on-site construction, adjustment and modification that consistently meets NSF requirements.